SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Help reunite a family with the beloved flag stolen from West Seattle home
Jul 9, 2013, 6:52 PM | Updated: 7:02 pm
Ron and Don have donated and raised $1500 for a reward to help recover a priceless American flag stolen from a West Seattle couple's home on the 4th of July. (AP file)
(AP file)
A West Seattle couple has seen the worst and best of people after someone stole a “priceless” American flag from the front of their house on the 4th of July.
The flag was given to Duff Kennedy after his son Roger died from Agent Orange poisoning in the Vietnam War. And Duff and his wife Sharon displayed it proudly on every patriotic holiday.
“It’s huge. It’s the size of a flag as big as what you’d see over a government building,” Duff’s wife Sharon tells the Ron and Don Show.
But on the 5th of July, Sharon made a terrible discovery. The flag was gone. It was devastating, because the flag meant so much. And it was Sharon who convinced Duff to start flying it publicly after the couple got married.
“For me it was just heartbreaking because I had to tell him.”
She took her story to the West Seattle Blog , where Ron and Don first learned of the theft. Now, they want to help Duff and Sharon get the flag back.
The hosts have each donated $250, along with Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer, Ryan from Iron Horse Casino in Auburn and a Vietnam vet named Steve for a reward they hope will lead to the flag’s return.
“We’re going to make you richer for being a thief. We’re going to give you $1500 no questions asked. We’re not going to call the police,” Don says.
While the hope is Roger’s flag will make its way home, the Kennedy’s won’t be without a flag for long. Sharon says a UPS driver showed up at her house Monday after hearing about the theft, and offered them the flag that adorned his own father’s casket after he died in Vietnam.
“My husband is not an emotional man. And when he told him he almost started crying. When he told me about it he was so moved I started crying,” Sharon says. “You just clutch your heart when you hear of the goodness of people. We’ve seen more of the goodness of people through this than anything else. It’s got an amazing silver lining.”
Still, it sure would be nice to get the flag back. Anyone with information can send an anonymous note to the Ron and Don Show via the Lynwood Honda inbox at MyNorthwest.com.
